TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS MONDAY, SEPT. 11, the 254th day of 2017. There are 111 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY: On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people were killed as 19 al-Qaida hijackers seized control of four jetliners, sending two of the planes into New York’s World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and the fourth into a field in western Pennsylvania.
IN 1297, Scottish rebels led by William Wallace and Andrew Moray defeated English troops in the Battle of Stirling Bridge during the First War of Scottish Independence.
IN 1714, the forces of King Philip V of Spain overcame Catalan defenders to end the 13-month-long Siege of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession.
IN 1789, Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. IN 1814, an American fleet scored a decisive victory over the British in the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812.
IN 1857, the Mountain Meadows Massacre took place in present-day southern Utah as a 120-member Arkansas immigrant party was slaughtered by Mormon militiamen aided by Paiute Indians.
IN 1936, Boulder Dam, now Hoover Dam, began operation as President Franklin D. Roosevelt pressed a key in Washington to signal the startup of the dam’s first hydroelectric generator.
IN 1941, groundbreaking took place for the Pentagon. In a speech that drew accusations of anti-Semitism, Charles A. Lindbergh told an America First rally in Des Moines, Iowa, that “the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt administration” were pushing the United States toward war.
IN 1954, the Miss America pageant made its network TV debut on ABC; Miss California, Lee Meriwether, was crowned the winner.
IN 1967, the comedy-variety program “The Carol Burnett Show” premiered on CBS.
IN 1974, Eastern Airlines Flight 212, a DC-9, crashed while attempting to land in Charlotte, N.C., killing 72 of the 82 people on board.
IN 1985, Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds cracked career hit number 4,192 off Eric Show of the San Diego Padres, eclipsing the record held by Ty Cobb. The Reds won the game, 2-0.
IN 1997, Scots voted to create their own Parliament after 290 years of union with England.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Actor Earl Holliman is 89. Comedian Tom Dreesen is 78. Movie director Brian De Palma is 77. Singer-actress-dancer Lola Falana is 75. Rock musician Mickey Hart (The Dead) is 74. Singer-musician Leo Kottke is 72. Actor Phillip Alford is 69. Actress Amy Madigan is 67. Rock singermusician Tommy Shaw (Styx) and sports reporter Lesley Visser are 64. Actor Reed Birney is 63. Singer-songwriter Diane Warren is 61. Musician Jon Moss (Culture Club) is 60. Actor Scott Patterson, rock musician Mick Talbot (The Style Council) and actress Roxann Dawson are 59. Actor John Hawkes is 58. Actress Anne Ramsay is 57. Actress Virginia Madsen is 56. Actress Kristy McNichol is 55. Musician-composer Moby is 52. Singer Harry Connick Jr. is 50. Rock musician Bart Van Der Zeeuw is 49. Actresses Taraji P. Henson and Laura Wright are 47. Rock musician Jeremy Popoff (Lit) is 46. Singer Brad Fischetti (LFO) is 42. Rock musician Jon Buckland (Coldplay) is 40. Rock singer Ben Lee and actor Ryan Slattery are 39. Actress Ariana Richards is 38. Country singer Charles Kelley (Lady Antebellum) is 36. Actress Elizabeth Henstridge and actor Tyler Hoechlin are 30. Actress Mackenzie Aladjem is 16.